


The Road to the Remake

by mythmaker3



Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:54:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26454481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mythmaker3/pseuds/mythmaker3
Summary: The day at the Temple of the Ancients, the world is changed forever. Yet not all goes according to plan and Aerith lives to see the final battle against Sephiroth. A few weeks later, two mysterious letters arrive giving Aerith hope for a new future.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough & Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	The Road to the Remake

Aerith lay on the bed of her childhood home staring at the ceiling. It had been several weeks since her and the gang had defeated Sephiroth and stopped Meteor from destroying all of Gaia. Yet that barely mattered to her; as far as she was concerned, her world had died at the hands of Sephiroth.

~~~~~~~~~

_She knelt at the altar, praying for the power that would stop Sephiroth and the Black Materia. Behind her, she heard movement. They had come to help her; of course they had. But there was nothing they could do. It had to be her. She knew, in the end, where this train was going for her and it was nowhere that anyone, even Cloud, could follow her though she wouldn’t put it past him to try._

_“Cloud!” She heard Cid yell. She kept her focus but was confused about what was happening._

_“Stop it!!” That was Barret’s voice. Something was very wrong. Even still, she maintained her prayer. It was crucial that she finished._

_Suddenly she felt him coming down at her from above. Sephiroth was attempting to stop the only person in the universe who could stop him. Without knowing it, though, he would be sealing his own fate. The ultimate sacrifice that would save the planet. She was ready, expecting to feel the cold steel of Sephiroth’s sword in her. However, the feeling never came; instead, there was a clash of steel._

_“You won’t keep using me!” Cloud shouted, clearly fighting himself. He was barely keeping control._

_“You shall not forestall my victory, Cloud.” Sephiroth said, overpowering Cloud effortlessly. Sephiroth then stepped towards Aerith._

_“It is time to become part of the planet’s energy. It is time to guarantee my unity with the planet to ascend as a being far greater than the Ancients.” He said as he swung his sword. Once again, Aerith was ready for the contact that never came. Instead there was a scream from a familiar voice._

_“CLOUD!” Everyone shouted, including Aerith. He had jumped forward at the last second and intercepted the attack. However, he hadn’t been able to get the Buster Sword out and was forced to take Sephiroth’s sword to the body. He fell at Aerith’s feet, laying lifeless. His mako infused eyes were empty. In her hand, the White Materia glowed._

_“No, this is not possible!” Sephiroth shouted. Aerith stood and glared at the thing that killed Cloud._

_“You will leave this place. Now!” She demanded, slamming her staff against the ground. From the spot where the staff connected with the ground, a white orb radiated outward, growing and expanding. When it came into contact with Sephiroth, it pushed him backwards, sending him away. He attempted to attack Aerith again, but an energy now protected her._

“My last gift to you, Aerith.” _A voice, his voice, said in her ear. Even as he became part of the life stream and returned to the planet, he was making sure to protect her._

~~~~~~~~

After that, she had been like a woman possessed. She only had one goal in mind: defeat Sephiroth and save the planet. She wanted a better life for Tifa, Barret, Marlene, and even Yuffie. But she knew her life would never be better. Not without Cloud. She never would have admitted it to him, they hadn’t known each other all that long, but she felt pulled to him in a way that she had only experienced once before. He was so similar to Zack, and yet so different as well. He was his own person despite the appearance he put on for everyone. And without meaning to, she had developed feelings for him. She had hoped, after everything was finished and they were able to return to a normal life, that she might be able to get a second date. The Gold Saucer didn’t really count – that was payment she owed him. She wanted a real date, and now would never get the chance.

Downstairs, there was a knock at the door. She heard Elmyra open the door and greet whoever it was. A few moments later, there were footsteps coming up the stairs followed by a knock on her door.

“Aerith, it’s Tifa. Can I come in?” Aerith really wasn’t in the mood for company, but she could never deny Tifa. Tifa, who had been the closest person to Cloud, was the only connection she had to him anymore. She gave Tifa the okay. The door creaked open and she stood there, wearing her usual white shirt, black sports bra, black short shorts, and black thigh high socks.

“Heya, Tifa.” Aerith said, trying to sound her usual chipper self, falling drastically short. Tifa could tell.

“Rough day?” Tifa asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed next to Aerith.

“I miss him. It feels like it’s my fault that he’s gone.” This wasn’t an unfamiliar conversation to either woman, but it felt necessary to say, still. Aerith would always harbor guilt about Cloud’s death. So many decisions she made that could have changed how everything played out…

“It isn’t, Aerith. Nobody else blames you, and Cloud wouldn’t want you to blame yourself, either. He would want you to keep being yourself.” Tifa attempted to console. None of them had much experience being emotional supports, but through the loss of Cloud most of them had learned, to some extent.

“But it feels like it. I should have done something. I was right there.”

“And Cloud made his choice. He wanted to protect you, and probably wanted to be free from Sephiroth’s power. In the end, he did what he felt he needed to do. And the planet is safe, now.”

“And Cloud is dead!” Aerith shouted, her frustration finally bursting out at Tifa as she sat up and glared daggers at the bartender. “Cloud is dead and all of you are acting like everything is fine. I know that I’m taking it harder than others, but why isn’t anyone else concerned that Cloud is gone?” Tears started to stream down Aerith’s face as she leaned her head on Tifa’s shoulder. She wasn’t mad at Tifa, or any of them really. It was just so difficult. Tifa wrapped her arms around Aerith, holding the poor, sobbing woman.

“We all feel Cloud’s death, Aerith, I promise. We all just have different ways of showing it. For me, I threw myself into the new Seventh Heaven. Barret has taken up the mercenary business, taking over for Cloud. Yuffie now leads her father’s dojo and continue to gather materia. Cid’s heading for space, finally accomplishing his dream. We’ve all done something, Aerith. And Cloud would want you to, as well.”

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation.

“Hate to interrupt,” said Elmyra, “but this was just slid through the door. By the time I got up to look for who delivered it, they were nowhere to be seen.” She said, extending a white envelope towards Aerith. It had her name in elegant handwriting on the front. Aerith got up and carefully took the letter from Elmyra with a thanks. Elmyra went back downstairs, leaving the women to talk again.

“Who’s it from” Tifa asked. Aerith shrugged. There was no return address on the envelope. Whoever delivered it didn’t want to be found out, apparently. She opened the envelope to find two letters – one wrapped around a second. She opened the first letter and read it out loud.

_Aerith,_

_You may or may not remember me, but I remember you. More importantly, I was trusted with the enclosed letter. I was told that I would know if I ever needed to deliver it to you, and recently I got the feeling that the time was right. It’s from your mother, and I hope it helps you with whatever you’re going through right now. I know I was part of the system that held you captive, but if you ever want help, I’m sure you’ll be able to find me. You always were better than any of us deserved._

_Best wishes,_

_Cissnei_

Aerith tried to recall Cissnei. Clearly, they were a Turk, but not one of the Turks she frequently interacted with. Whoever they were, it wasn’t someone like Rude or Reno. This Turn more openly had a heart and cared about the people around them. And they knew about her mother. At the thought of her mother, Aerith carefully opened the second letter.

_My dearest daughter,_

_If you are reading this letter, then fate has been altered. I have known for many years of your destiny, and you receiving this letter means that your fated end did not happen. However, someone else has likely died in your place. No parent wishes for their child’s death, and I certainly desire a long, happy life for you, Aerith, But they who died should still be alive. Therefore, it is time for you to learn about one of the deepest powers of the Cetra. It is a power that is to be used only in the most crucial of circumstances, and can only be used once per Cetra._

_This power is the power to, in short, turn back the clock. The casting of this power will create an alternate timeline, a parallel timeline, in which events can occur differently. However, you must accept the outcome; you will not be able to get a second attempt. In this alternate timeline, you will also have guides – whispers of the fate that is meant to occur. They will interfere and guide everyone along their destined path. Allow them to do their jobs, and you must do yours._

_The secret to the power lies in the materia I gave you – the White Materia. Hold it, desire nothing more than to create an alternate timeline, and decide when you enter it. Decide where the timeline will “start” and will it into existence. You will go there and be able to undo the wrong._

_There is so much more that I wish I could tell you, but this will have to do for the moment. Be brave, be true, and be the Aerith I know you always have been and always will continue to be._

_With all of the love in my heart,_

_Ilfalna_

Aerith couldn’t believe what she had read. She handed the letter to Tifa and had the bartender make sure that she had understood it properly. While Tifa read, Aerith stood up from the bed and walked over to her dresser, opening the top drawer and digging down until she found the object in question that she had buried in it. The White Materia. This was her second chance.

“Aerith…are you sure you want to do this?” Tifa asked after she finished reading. “I mean, it sounds dangerous. And…if you do this, it sounds like you’ll die…” Tifa couldn’t bring herself to keep going. Aerith just nodded.

“I was supposed to die that day when Cloud died. It was supposed to be me – I was the sacrifice that saved the planet. But Cloud took my place. And now I can set things right. He can live and have the happy life he was supposed to have!”

“But then you’ll be dead. And Cloud wouldn’t want that. He loved you, Aerith.” Tifa said confidently. She had seen how close Cloud and Aerith had gotten on their journey. At first, Tifa had been jealous, her own feelings for Cloud still lingering, but she pushed them aside as she saw Cloud be a different person around Aerith. He was more authentic than he had ever been; he was more of the Cloud she remembered from before his days with Shinra. And she couldn’t begrudge him that happiness because of her own feelings. And she knew that Cloud would be miserable if Aerith went through with this.

“I have to try, though. You understand, right Tifa?” Aerith was almost pleading. She needed Tifa’s approval – she needed someone else to say that this was fine and that it would work. Tifa just nodded.

“Just promise me one thing. Make him as happy as you can for as long as you can. He’ll still have had a difficult life.” Tifa said, asking something of Aerith that she knew the florist would be able to do easily.

“You betcha!” Aerith exclaimed, her face lighting up with hope at the thought of seeing Cloud again. She held the White Materia in her hand, offering up another prayer to the planet. This time, she prayed for the alternate timeline. She prayed for Cloud to be back and to have the chance to save him. She prayed that she would be there right before the first time she met him, so she could set the path right from the start.

In her hand, the White Materia glowed and a white orb glowed around Aerith. In the middle of the glow, Aerith could feel Tifa’s confusion. To Aerith, she was disappearing, slipping backwards in time and into the alternate timeline; to Tifa, Aerith never left – she had also never gotten the letter from her mother. The timeline she had just left would keep going onward, but that timeline no longer mattered to Aerith. She was going back – back to her Cloud.

When the glow faded away, she was on her knees over a mako vent. She looked to the sky. Her prayer had worked, and she was back. She arrived a bit earlier than she wanted to, but she knew this day well. This was the day the mako reactor would blow and where she would run into Cloud for the very first time. A small meeting, but perhaps more significant than she gave it credit for. Nearby, the air moved and Aerith saw a black shadowy figure flying around. It was followed by more. These must be the whispers her mother spoke of. It didn’t matter. She was here, and this time she would protect Cloud. He may be her bodyguard, but she would be the one taking care of him this time around.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally I set out to write a connection between the original FFVII and FFVI Remake, but I couldn't get the idea out of my head of Cloud breaking free from Sephiroth and deciding his own fate. Plus, let Aerith kick more butt! But I still wanted to connected to the Remake and give a reason that Aerith appears to know more than she lets on. Hopefully you enjoyed it!


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